Coin conveying and receiving mechanism for vending-machines.



E. H. KELLEY. colN CONVEYING AND REcElvlNG NECHANlsNl FOR vENDlNGMACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 27. I9I0.

1,204,454. Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

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E. H.KELLEY. COIN CONVEYING AND RECEIVING IVIECHANISIVI FOR VENDINGMACHINES.

' APPLICATION FILED OCT. 27. |910. 1,204,454.

Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

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. y l w @MH/ff I/I/INESSES ELIAS H. KELLEY, OF NEW YORK, N.

G01N conviivnvel AND RECEIVING MEcHANIsM Fon VENDINGLMACHINES.

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Patented ov. 14, 1916.

Original application led `December 1'?, 1909, Serial No. 533,638.Divided and this application filed October 27, 1910. Serial No. 589,303.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ELIAS H. KELLEY, a` citizen of the United States,residing in the borough' of Manhattan, city, county, and State of'NewYork, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Coin Conveying andReceiving Mechanism for Vending-Mac hines, of which the following is adescription.

This invention has reference to vending machines and especially to thecoin-controlled type of such machines; but, particularly, my inventionrelates to conveyersand receptacles for the coin deposited in themachine.

The mechanism of this invention is intended for use in machines of thetype claimed in my application, Serial No. 533,638, led Dec. 17, 1909,of which latter this application is a division.

Among the objects of kmy invention may be noted the following: `toprovide a receptacle, for the coins deposited in the machine, so locatedas to catch all the coins deposited in the machine regardless of whichslide said coinvis primarily deposited in; to provide a receptaclehaving separate com-V partments for the coins of different Vdenominationand so located in relation to the chain conveyer as to receive, inl aparticular compartment, only the coin intended; to provide means inconnection with a receptacle for coins which will prevent the receptaclefrom being withdrawn from the machine with the lid open or with the lidunlocked; to provide means in connection with a receptacle for coinswhich will prevent the receptacle from being placed in the machine withthe lid closed; to provide means whereby a coinreceptacle can be placedin the machine only in open condition and which will be held in themachine in that condition, in combination with means whereby the lidwill be automatically closed and locked when the said receptacle iswithdrawn from the machine; to provide means` whereby a coinboX, for avending machine, can be identied as belonging to a given machine or typeof machines, thus rendering identification easy, continual defraudingimpossible, and facilitating the establishment of book-keeping andchecking systems; to provide means by which a coin-box can be used onlyin a given machine according to predetermination, and in no other; toprovide means by which the coinsA areconveyed to and properly depositedinthe receptacle or coin-box; and-to provide a combination ofmeans bywhich the. foregoing objects are secured cheaply, effectively andpositively.

TWith the above objects in view and others which will be detailed duringthe course of this description, my invention consists in the elements,mechanisms, parts and features, and combinations of elements andmechanisms all as hereinafter described and claimed.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I have provideddrawings wherein:

Figure l is a vertical sectional view of so much of my aforesaid vendingmachine as is deemed vnecessary to illustrate my invention of thisapplication; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view at a right-angle tothat of Fig. 1 and lon the line 2 2 of the latter; Fig. 3 is an endelevation of the receptacle and surroundingV portion of the machine, thefront of the 'frame being in section; Fig. l is an enlarged sectionaldetail of the receptacle and means for holding the lid open. and lockingthe lid when closed; and Fig. 5 is a broken plan and partial section ofthe coin-box or receptacle.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral l indicates the base of theframe, 2 the opposite side-plates, and 3 the back-plate, these partsbeing fitted and bolted together in any suitable manner to provide arigid and strong supporting-frame, the top-plate and front-plate of themachine not being-shown since the figures have been curtailed torestrict the same to an illustration of my present invention. ViewingFigs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the lower portionof the frameextends forward of the'driving-shaft to provide a support 6 for theslide-plate 7, which may carry any number of coin-slides 8 according tothe use or purpose of the machine. In front of the support 6, the frameat its base, has an opening which is closed by a door 9, hinged at itsbottom,

'as .at 10, to the base of the frame, which box 11 is provided on itsopposite sides with in the machine, the lid will be released an runners15 which travel upon the .guiderails 16, extending across the base ofthe frame of the machine, the said coin-box beingthus capableof beingeasily slid into the machine and maintained in proper positionV betweenthe two said rails. rlhe Vframe-portion 17 of the machine, at its loweredge adjacent the top of the door 9 and at opposite ends of thecoin-box, is provided with dogs 18, .-pivotcd at A19, each of said vdogsbeing under control of a spring 20, fixed to the said frame and engagingthe portion 18 of said dog, the latter having its depending portion 21in position such as to cooperate with the complemental inclined lugs 22secured to the opposite ends of the lid 23 of thecoin-box adjacent itsfree or upper edge. The ldogs and lugs cooperate to close the lid 23 ofthe Ycoin-box, since the lower portion 21 ofr said dogs is directly inthe path of said lugs when the coin-box'is being removed; that is tosay, as the box is withdrawn from the machine, the spring 24,l supportedas presently described, will exercise its normal tendencyv to close saidlid, thuspresenting the lugs 22 in the path of said dog-portion 21.Since, however, said dog, in this direction of movement of the box, willyield against the pressure of the spring 2O said dog will only have atendency to press closed the lid 23 and snap the spring-lock 25 thereof;but,y to insure that the lid be tightly closed as the box is withdrawnfrom the machine, said lugs 22 will engage the lower edge 26 of saidframe which, being rigid, will snap the spring-lock 25 and lock the lid,thus enabling the free Vwithdrawal of the box from the machine.

r he lugs 22 also prevent the placing of the coin-box in the machinewith the lid closed, since the lowerfends Yof;the depending portions 21are slightly below the lower edge 26 of the frame and the dogs willengage the said lugs when the lid is closed and cannot yield, owing tothe portion 18 being in contact with the frame-portion 17. ll`herefore,`it becomes necessary to rst open the hd and lay it 'back against itsspring lpressure upo the top of the box, thus allowing said box t beplaced in the machine without interfer ence with the dog. As soon as thebox is we its spring will force it into engagement wit the guard 27,which latter will hold said li wide open so that the coins can freelypas through the openings 28 in the box, and int their proper compartment12, 13 or 14. Th top 29 of the coin-box is hinged to the fron wallthereof along the upper edge of the lat ter, as indicated at 30, and atits Iopposit f side said top is provided with a spring-lool enabling theentiretop of the box to be thrown Vwide open for the removal of thecontents thereof.

Viewing Figs. 1, 2 and 3, when the mainshaft 32 is rotated by eithermotor or crank, the` sprocketwheel 33 carried thereby will be rotatedsince it is fixed to the shaft, such rotation driving the,sprocket-chain, 34 vwhich rotates the sprocket-wheel 35 carried by theshort-shaft 36 journaled in the standard 37 and a bracket38 carried bythe adjacent standard 37. Shaft 36 carries a pinion will maintain thesaid cups in a horizontal position with several of theininhorizontalalineinent so as to catch the coins which pass from the chutes, 47, 48and 49, suitably secured to thebottom of the slide-plate 7. Viewing Fig.1, every other link of the chain 43 hasa cup 44 fixed thereto so as totravel with the chain in a fixed position relatively to said link, thelinks, extending between each pair ofcups, spacing the latter so vthat auniform distance will always be maintained between the cups, Aand thelatter can travel the circuit prescribed by the two sets ofsprocket-wheels without interference. As shown in Fig. 2, the chute 47extends toward the right-hand side of the machine and empties into thecoin-cups 44, which are arranged in single form and are in position toAreceive the live-cent piece from the nickelslide', which is on theVleft side of the machine. The chute 48 is under the dimeslide, isdirected toward thechute 48 and del l posits its coin in the right-handside of the double cups 44, the lattei being made double and arranged asshown to econornize space, cheapen and simplify the `machinel The cups,as the chains 43 move along in the direction ofthe arrow in F ig. 1 aregiven a complete turn so as to dump the coins into the box 11,throughthe opening 28 in the top thereof, which 'extends across thevsame from side to side. Thespring 24 coiled rbout the hinge-pin V51 ofthe lid normally tends to close saidV lid, one end of the spring beingsecured to the lid at 52 and the other end to the box at 53. Oppositethe guard 27, I see Fig. 1, indicated by 31, this constrnctiong7 aback-plate 54 is fixed to the beam 55, said plate and guard having thefunction of accurately directing the coins into the box l1, through theopenings 28, and preventing said coins from being dumped in or deflectedto any other portion of the machine. The guard 27 also has the functionof retaining the door 23 open while the box is in the machine.

The chains, sprockets and cups constitute a coin-conveyer and the amountof travel imparted thereto is approximately the distance of one coin-cupfor everyv rotation of the driving-shaft 32. Hence, for every operationof the machine the conveyer will carry the contents of av given cupunder and into the light of a lamp 56 so that it may be inspectedthrough the transparency 57, and a person tampering with the machine ortrying to defraud the same by slugs or checks, etc., can be instantlydetected. This particular feature forms no part of my present invention.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, means are provided for identifying a machineor the location thereof, and for preventing a box intended for a givenmachine, from being used with any other machine. This means, in theinstance shown, consists of a dovetailed lug 58 fixed to the bottom ofthe box l1, and cooperating with a guide 59 having a groove complementalin form to said lug, said guide being carried by the base-plate 1.Obviously, the position, size and shape of this key to a given machineand its coin-box can be varied indefinitely. Thus an infallible meansfor the purposes stated is and can be provided and the same forms animportant feature of my invention since it makes the coin-boxesnon-interchangeable; that is to say, said boxes are provided with meansheretofore described whereby a given box can be used only in one machineconstructed and adapted specially for the reception of said box. Thismeans or key may be provided in any number desired in each machine andmay, obviously, be located in an indenite number of positions, wherebythe owners or users of a given line of machine may be assured of thereturn of the coin-box-to the proper machine from which it has beenremoved. This feature of my invention also enables a userl or owner of agiven number of machines to locate and identify, at a given point, in alarge city, for example, any machine in the coin-box of which a coinother than a good coin may have been deposited, and also enables theauditor to credit each machine with its earnings. This key also enablesa system of book-keeping to be established with reference to any one orany group of machines. Ordinarily, each machine will have at least twoboxes, one to be inserted when the other is taken away. As shown in Fig.2, the coin-boxes are provided with three compartments, one foreachdenomination of coins, for example, five, ten and twenty-five cents,thus avoiding the necessity of sorting the coins upon removal of thebox.- Obviously, the coin-boxes will be partitioned and made of a sizecorrespond- 'ing with the use or character of the machine and may,insome' instances, be provided with only one compartment and in otherswith more than three.- .As has been pointed out, the coin-boxes are sovconstructed that the lid will be shut tight and locked as the box iswithdrawn from the machine, thus preventing employees from gainingaccess tothe contents when the boxes are collected in regular course ofbusiness. Also, to insure that the coins will be deposited from theconveyer into the boxes, means have been provided, as described, whichprevent the box being inserted in the machine in other than an opencondition,this open condition being maintained, as shown in Figs. l and4, the spring surrounding the hinge of the lid, however, normallytending to close the latter. Hence, the importance of my invention inthis particularl resides in the fact that the lid is automaticallyclosed and locked as the box is removed from the machine and that thebox cannot be placed in the machine without having the lid wide open forreception of the coins by the box.

Other parts and mechanisms of my machine, forming the subject-matter ofmy aforesaid application, which have been in-` cidentally shown in thedrawings form no part of my present invention and have notv beenspecifically described.

While I have described my coin receiving mechanism including the chutes,conveyers and coin-box in connection with a coin-controlled apparatus ofthe particular type shown in my aforesaid parent application, I desireit distinctly understood that my invention is not limited forapplication to the particular machine, but that I purpose that the sameshall be used in any relation possible and, in consequence, my claimswill not be limited to any particular machine but shall be comprehensiveof the mechanism irrespective of the machine in which it may be used orfound.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

l. In combination, a plurality of conveyers for vending machines; acoin-receiving box having a plurality of compartments and an openinginto each compartment; the said conveyers being arranged, respectively,in cooperative relation to the compartments of the box; and means foroperating the conveyers whereby the coins carried by the conveyers willbe dropped into the respective compartment of the box.

2. In combination in a vending machine,

a 6in-boi; providedivith a, lid ;Nl mns Vfdr nonlly hlcliiig said lidpii iihn th 156i; is in the machii'; sid lid dinns l'so aidifig indi'ecting the Coins into the box; a conifey'er fOr depositing the'J`coin iii Ytii', box; and means b'etw'en the box and this conveyerov'pierting With 'die' lid uid iisnamed means for directing th coiis inche boX. l

l 3. In cpmbiilatioil in ifediig mciii, a plurality of Coinchutes; a'plurility `'Of conveyer's Coperating With said chiites, OIi'e

